Fitzgerald Forgery Suspected

U.S.& Latin America - U.S. News to Note

December 13, 2000

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The state historical society once trumpeted its acquisition of a book and letter that seemed to reveal a warm friendship between Minnesota's top authors, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis. But the society has quietly returned the items and received its $8,500 back after an investigation showed the correspondence was likely a forgery. "They are indisputably the two giants in literature from Minnesota," Patrick Coleman, the society librarian who arranged the acquisition, said last week. "To have something associated with both was a dream come true."